INDIVIDUAL REPRESENTATION BRINGS NEW BEGINNINGS
CARA DONELS
SCHUYLER TROY
THOMAS PATTON
VICKI HANDLER
SARAH AUSTIN
The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is a multilateral treaty that provides an expeditious method to return a child internationally abducted by a parent from one member country to another. The convention was drafted to ensure the prompt return of children who have been wrongfully abducted from their country of habitual residence or wrongfully retained in a state not their country of habitual residence. Fredrikson lawyers took the first international kidnapping case in 2002, and they have received referrals for additional cases since then, including the one here: In January 2022, Fredrikson was contacted by the Department of State regarding an abduction case of a five-year-old child from Honduras. The child was abducted by her biological father and was living in Des Moines, Iowa. The mother was not allowed much contact by phone or on WhatsApp, and when she was able to have a chat, she worried that her child was visibly distressed. Cara Donels and Thomas Patton volunteered to take the case and began working with assistance from Schuyler Troy, paralegals Vicki Handler and Sarah Austin, and legal administrative 2
